HYDROPONIC CULTIVATION FACILITY

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention which is achieved by the appended claims, refers to a facility for hydroponic cultivation, that is, for growing plants without soil, using inert supports to allow the plant to take root and to provide nutrients by means of a closed circuit of liquid fertiliser, to which the nutrients that must be replaced after being absorbed by the plants are periodically added.

[0002] The object of the invention is to significantly improve the yield of the facility thanks to the capacity of planting on said facility plants with different rates of growth, which reach their optimal growth or state of fruit production in staggered phases in time, with the aim of achieving a continuous production.

[0003] The invention is therefore in the field of agriculture, more specifically in the production of fruits and vegetables. It can also be used for outdoor cultivation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0004] As it is commonly known, hydroponic cultivation consists of an artificial procedure of cultivation without soil, which is carried out on a support structure where a plant with small roots is placed, which is provided with liquid fertiliser with a formulation suitable for the nutritional needs of the specific type of plant grown, so that with the appropriate light, which may also be artificial, the suitable concentration and proportion of nutrients dissolved in water provide the optimal growth conditions for the plant, and in consequence, the yield of the plants is far better than that of traditional systems.

[0005] At the same time, it also has a series of other advantages such as higher plantation density, perfect protection of the roots and the plant as a whole against the action of pathogen agents, etc.

[0006] The applicant is the owner of the Spanish Invention Patent with application number ES 2 125 803, which describes a procedure of hydroponic cultivation and the complementary device for putting it into practice.

[0007] More specifically, in a facility with this procedure, a series of suspended channels is placed on parallel filiform supports, specifically these channels comprise an upper sheet with orifices to plant the respective plants, a lower sheet without orifices that acts as collector, and intermediate sheets that comprise a series of upper orifices, but these are offset longitudinally depending on the plants to be cultivated. The aforementioned channels are connected to a pipe feeding them water and nutrients as well as controlling their growth and temperature, with micro-pipes or similar protruding from the level of the upper sheet of the pipe for each irrigation unit, that is, for each plant, so that they are watered individually. The liquid cascades down through the channels by means of the staggered orifices until it reaches the lower channel, directing in turn the roots of the plants along the same path taken by the nutrients.

[0008] A facility of this type is suitable for a monoculture of a determined type of plants, that is, for a plurality of plants identical to each other, but it is not ideal for growing plants with different growth rates or of different species, since their roots quickly become in contact with each other, which results in interactions that harm some of them in relation to others.

[0009] The document EP 2005817 A2 discloses a plant cultivation method on the basis of an installation formed from plastic sheets of pairs of parallel, horizontal rods or cables, defining several superimposed layers which arc closed by means of an upper cover traversed by the plant stems that are supplied, through a perforated tubing, with a nutrient-bearing solution for the plants in a hydroponic cultivation system. This installation consists of substantially filling the upper level with a natural cultivation substrate mass such that the plants basically take root on said substrate, extracting the nutrients both from the substrate mass and from the solution provided, with controlled nutrient layers. A second tube allows the supply of gases for oxygenation, carbon fertilisation or disinfection, which reaches all levels of the installation through the nutrient solution overflow orifices. The document WO 2007/099186 A1 discloses an installation for hydroponic culture comprising a pair of a pair of support rods from which hang a plurality of plastic sheets that form superposed dihedrons with communication holes that allow the passage, in cascade, of the water containing the nutrients, and which in turn allows the passage of the roots of the plants. Said roots ultimately block the holes, preventing the cascade effect, and this installation consists in arranging on the ridge of the channels tubular strips that are normally kept flattened and that periodically receive pressurized air, which causes them to adopt a cylindrical configuration, this moving the roots of the plants and thereby eliminating possible clogging of the holes and providing oxygen to the installation, thus promoting plant growth.

[0010] The document US 4291499 discloses a propagator for the cultivation of plants in a controlled environment comprising upper and lower elongate containers having a common perforated wall, a plurality of plant seeds supported in spaced relation by or adjacent the common wall, means for injecting liquid in the form of vapor or droplets into an end of each of the elongate containers and means for maintaining a pressure in the elongate containers greater than atmospheric pressure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The facility proposed by the invention completely and satisfactorily addresses this problem, making it possible to simultaneously grow plants with different growth rates or of different species, without causing negative interactions between them. As explained above, this makes it possible to substantially increase the yield of the facility, in addition to achieving continuous production or cultivation.

[0012] More specifically, in order to do so the facility described retains basically all the characteristics of the Patent cited above, in regard to the existence in said patent of a pair of threads, lateral bars or a rigid channel, which determine the means for supporting several sheets constituting respective overlapping channels of an indefinite length, forming dihedrals of different angles, which due to their angles configure overlapping channels with a common mouth, wherein the upper sheet comprises orifices that correspond with the place where the plants are placed, the lower sheet is closed, while the intermediate sheet or sheets are provided with orifices also matching the distance between the plants and that are offset with those of the upper sheet in order to achieve a cascade effect, based on a certain longitudinal inclination given to the entire facility, more specifically to the threads, bars or the rigid channel supporting the sheets.

[0013] Obviously this "cascade" effect refers to the trajectory of the liquid fertiliser supplied by a pipe running along the length of the facility, which is collected by the lower sheet or channel after coating the roots in order to be recycled.

[0014] Therefore, from this basic configuration and according to the invention, the upper sheet adopts a multi-layer structure, for example, structured in four layers separated at a noticeable distance, although separated at a much smaller distance than the different sheets of the facility, with the upper layer of this sheet comprising orifices separated at convenient distances according to the expected separation between plants, while the rest of the layers of this upper sheet comprise die cuts or fold lines that face the aforementioned orifices and that can be easily torn off, so that when the plant is placed in the facility using the plant itself as a perforating element, one or more of the aforementioned die cuts, or none, may be torn off in order to place the roots of the plant at the level selected for each plant, physically isolating them from the rest of the plants.

[0015] According to another characteristic of the invention, the design of the aforementioned orifices of the upper sheet and the complementary die cuts form two marginal lines in the context of the sheet, which makes the most of the space of available.

[0016] A water inlet with multiple outlets is placed alongside every orifice and complementary die cuts of the upper sheet, one outlet for each layer, opening at each point the relevant outlet for the space provided for the corresponding plant to take root in.

[0017] In each segment of the upper sheet corresponding a plant, where said plant is placed in the highest level according to the inclination of the facility, there is an orifice in the opposite end of the segment, that is, the lowest level, that only affects the lower layers, that is, it does not effect the upper layer, and water falls through this orifice to the second sheet, cascading down until it reaches the lower sheet, and this orifice is also used by the corresponding plant when the roots thereof reach a predetermined length in order to allow the roots thereof to reach down to the lower sheets, in the same way as in the Patent ES 2 125 803.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] To complete the invention described and in order to give a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferred embodiment thereof, this description is accompanied by a set of drawings in which the figures described below have been represented, for purely illustrative purposes and should not be construed as limiting:

Figure 1 shows a partial perspective view of a facility for hydroponic cultivation designed according to the object of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows a crosswise section of the assembly represented in figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a representation similar to the one shown in figure 1 but featuring the three options for planting the roots of the plant in the different respective levels at the heart of the multi-layer sheet at the moment of planting them.

Figure 4, finally, shows a longitudinal scheme of a segment of the facility.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0019] In light of the drawings described above, and more specifically of figures 1 and 2, we can see that the facility proposed in the invention is constituted by a pair of parallel and longitudinal threads or bars (1, 1'), which constitute the physical support of the multiple channels that comprise a multi-layered upper sheet (2), at least one intermediate sheet (3), and a lower sheet (4), made of different widths in order to create respective channels (5) configured noticeably in the shape of dihedrals, secured to the bars (1, 1') by means of marginal folds (6) represented in a scheme of the drawings.

[0020] The upper sheet (2) is multi-layered, so that it is comprised of four layers (2a, 2b, 2c and 2d), with these layers also being made of different widths so that significantly smaller channels (7) are defined between them, specifically smaller in height in comparison to the channels (5) defined between the different sheets (2, 3, 4).

[0021] The upper layer (2a) of the upper sheet (2) comprises two marginal lines of orifices (8) conveniently separated according to the planned separation between plants (9), and the die cuts (8') are located under these orifices (8) and they affect the other three layers (2b, 2c and 2d) of the sheet (2), with said die cuts being initially closed and they are easily torn off when the plants are planted so that the roots of each of the plants can be placed on any of the three levels (7) defined by the aforementioned layers (2b, 2c and 2d), as shown in figure 4, depending on the choice of the farmer, and on a different level than the adjacent plants. The roots of the plant themselves act as a puncher to tear off the die cut or die cuts needed in order to gain access to the planned level.

[0022] A multiple water inlet (11) is placed alongside every orifice (8), which is individualised for each plant, with three independent outlets (12), each of them facing each of the spaces or channels (7) defined by the different layers of the sheet (2).

[0023] The roots are then placed on the same level of the multi-layered sheet (2) as the water carrying nutrients, and they are completely independent from the roots of the rest of the plants during the initial stage of growth, which is long enough so that no interference takes place between plants, so each plant, following the direction of the inclination (13), finally reaches an orifice (14), which simultaneously affects the three lower layers (2b, 2c and 2d) of the sheet (2), from where the water carrying nutrients and the roots descend to the intermediate sheet (3), and from said sheet, with the possibility of there being another layer of intermediate sheets (3'), they descend to the closed lower sheet (4) that acts a collector, all of which takes place through the orifices (15) of said sheets (3, 3'), which determine the circulation of the water with nutrients cascading down, and an identical trajectory for the roots.

Claims

1. Hydroponic cultivation facility with a structure comprising a pair of parallel longitudinal threads, bars or a rigid channel (1,1'), with a certain inclination, which comprise the physical support for an upper sheet (2) with orifices for planting the respective plants (9), a closed lower sheet (4), and one or more intermediate sheets (3,3') forming a series of dihedral channels (5) connected cascading down by means of orifices established for said effect, wherein the upper sheet (2) is a multi-layered sheet comprising a plurality of layers (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) slightly separated between them, so that they define independent channels (7) of a small height used selectively to plant the roots of plants, for which purpose, facing the orifices (8) for planting the plants on the upper layer (2a), characterised in that the remaining layers (2b, 2c, 2d) comprise die cuts (8') or fragile fold lines that can be torn off by using the roots of the plant itself as a perforating element, so that said roots reach the channel (7) chosen by the user, which is different than that of the adjacent plants; and in that an orifice (14) is placed at the end of the channels (7) corresponding to each plant (9) and at the lowest point of said channels in the direction (13) of the inclination, with said orifices affecting simultaneously the three upper layers (2b, 2c and 2d) and connecting the aforementioned channels (7) of the upper sheet (2) with the channels (5) defined by the intermediate sheets (3, 3') and the closed lower sheet (4), in order to allow the water carrying nutrients to cascade down parallel to the trajectory of the roots of the plants.

2. Hydroponic cultivation facility according to claim 1, wherein the orifices (8) for planting the plants (9) and the complementary die cuts (8') thereof form two longitudinal, marginal lines on the upper sheet (2).

3. Hydroponic cultivation facility according to any of the previous claims, wherein a multiple water inlet (11) is placed over the upper sheet and in correspondence with each plant, which comprises water outlets for selectively watering each of the channels (7) constituted by the layers (2b, 2c and 2d) of the upper sheet (2).

Ansprüche

1. Hydroponische Kulturanlage mit einer Struktur, die ein Paar paralleler längsgestreckter Fäden, Stäbe oder einen starren Kanal (1, 1') mit einer bestimmten Neigung umfasst, die den physischen Träger für eine obere Folie (2) mit Öffnungen zum Einpflanzen der jeweiligen Pflanzen (9), eine geschlossene untere Folie (4) und eine oder mehrere Zwischenfolien (3, 3') umfasst, die eine Reihe von zweiflächigen Kanälen (5) bilden, die kaskadenartig nach unten durch Öffnungen verbunden sind, die für diesen Zweck eingerichtet sind, wobei die obere Folie (2) eine mehrschichtige Folie ist, die eine Vielzahl von Schichten (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) umfasst, die geringfügig voneinander getrennt sind, so dass sie gesonderte Kanäle (7) von geringer Höhe definieren, die selektiv zum Einpflanzen der Pflanzenwurzeln verwendet werden, wozu sie den Öffnungen (8) zum Einpflanzen der Pflanzen der oberen Schicht (2a) gegenüberliegen, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die übrigen Schichten (2b, 2c, 2d) gestanzte Ausschnitte (8') oder abgeschwächte Falzlinien umfassen, die abgerissen werden können, indem die Wurzeln der Pflanze selbst als Durchstoßelement verwendet werden, so dass die Wurzeln in den vom Benutzer gewählten Kanal (7) gelangen, der sich von dem der benachbarten Pflanzen unterscheidet; und dass eine Öffnung (14) am Ende der Kanäle (7), die jeder Pflanze (9) entsprechen, und am tiefsten Punkt dieser Kanäle in der Richtung (13) der Neigung platziert ist, wobei diese Öffnungen gleichzeitig die drei oberen Schichten (2b, 2c und 2d) erfassen und wobei die oben genannten Kanäle (7) der oberen Folie (2) mit den durch die Zwischenfolien (3, 3') und die geschlossene untere Folie (4) definierten Kanälen (5) verbunden werden, damit das Wasser, das die Nährstoffe trägt, parallel zur Bahn der Pflanzenwurzeln nach unten kaskadenartig abfließen kann.

2. Hydroponische Kulturanlage gemäß Anspruch 1, wobei die Öffnungen (8) zum Einpflanzen der Pflanzen (9) und deren komplementäre gestanzte Ausschnitte (8') zwei längsgestreckte, randständige Linien auf der oberen Folie (2) bilden.

3. Hydroponische Kulturanlage gemäß einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei ein mehrfacher Wassereinlass (11) über der oberen Folie und in Übereinstimmung mit jeder Pflanze platziert ist, der Wasserauslässe zum selektiven Bewässern jedes der Kanäle (7) umfasst, die durch die Schichten (2b, 2c und 2d) der oberen Folie (2) gebildet werden.

Revendications

1. Système de culture hydroponique avec une structure comprenant deux encoches, barres ou canaux rigides parallèles longitudinaux (1,1'), avec une certaine inclinaison, qui comprend le support physique pour une plaque supérieure (2) avec des orifices pour planter les plantes respectives (9), une plaque inférieure fermée (4), et une ou plusieurs plaques intermédiaires (3,3') formant une série de canaux dièdres (5) connectés sous la forme d'une cascade vers le bas, par le biais d'orifices réalisés à cet effet, où la plaque supérieure (2) est une plaque multicouches comprenant une multitude de couches (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) légèrement séparées entre elles, pour définir des canaux indépendants (7) d'une hauteur réduite, utilisés au choix pour planter les racines des plantes, et à cet effet, en face des orifices (8) pour planter les plantes sur la couche supérieur (2a), caractérisé par le fait que les couches restantes (2b, 2c, 2d) comprennent des découpages à la matrice (8') ou des lignes de pliage fragiles qui peuvent être arrachées en utilisant les racines des plantes elles-mêmes comme élément de perforation pour que ces racines atteignent le canal (7) choisi par l'utilisateur, différent de celui des plantes adjacentes, et caractérisé par le fait qu'un orifice (14) est placé à l'extrémité des canaux (7) correspondant à chaque plante (9) et au point le plus bas de ces canaux, dans la direction (13) de l'inclinaison, avec ces orifices concernant simultanément les trois couches supérieures (2b, 2c et 2d) et connectant les canaux mentionnés précédemment (7) de la plaque supérieure (2) avec les canaux (5) définis par les plaques intermédiaires (3, 3') et la plaque inférieure fermée (4), pour permettre à l'eau qui transporte les nutriments de former une cascade vers le bas parallèle à la trajectoire des racines des plantes.

2. Système de culture hydroponique selon la revendication 1, avec les orifices (8) pour planter les plantes (9) et les découpages à la matrice complémentaires (8') forment deux lignes longitudinales en marge sur la plaque supérieure (2).

3. Système de culture hydroponique selon une ou plusieurs des revendications précédentes, où une entrée multiple d'eau (11) est placée sur la plaque supérieure, et correspondant à chaque plante qui comprend des sorties d'eau pour arroser au choix chacun des canaux (7) constitué des couches (2b, 2c et 2d) de la plaque supérieure (2).

Drawing